Many people own pets today due to the enjoyment they provide via companionship as well as to perform useful tasks for their owners. For instance, dogs which are a very common type of pet can be trained to aid the hearing or sight impaired, retrieve game for hunters, or even perform trivial tricks for the amusement of people. Nevertheless, trained dogs do not instinctively perform these tasks; they must be trained repetitiously starting at as early an age as possible in order that these tasks become part of the dog's overall behavior pattern. Although it may be beneficial to train dogs into positive behavioral patterns such as performing tasks for their owners, in many cases it is also necessary to train them away from negative behavioral patterns such as improper defecation or urination, biting, over aggressiveness, or chewing on household items around a home.
Since pets such as dogs are many times allowed free access to the inside of a home, breaking the negative habit of chewing household items is paramount. This is due to the fact that irreparable damage can be done by the chewing action of the dog on costly household items such as furniture, sentimental heirlooms, electrical power cords, and the like. Moreover, electrical power cords which once chewed, can become very dangerous for all inhabitants of the household. The protective insulative barrier for the cord can become frayed due to the chewing action thus exposing the conductive wires therein to the ambient environment resulting in a severe safety hazard. The possible ramifications of this type of safety hazard include electrocution or mouth-burns of the pet; or even worse, electrocution of the owner or other human household inhabitants such as a child.
There have been chemical formulations as well as various herbal extracts that have been developed to train pets away from the negative behavior of chewing, however the vehicle used to transfer the chemical formulation or herbal extract to the item to be protected has heretofore only been provided been in amorphous liquid or granular form. Herbal formulations popular for their pet deterring effects include a substance derived from the bitter cucumber plant (citrullus colocynthis) commonly known by the trade name of ‘bitter apple’ and capsaicin pepper (oleoresin capsicum) which is extracted from chili peppers. Other examples of chemical formulations or herbal extracts known for their pet deterring effects include methyl nonyl ketone, napthalene, nicotene, ropel, thiram, oil of mustard, oil of anise, thymoil, and peppermint oil. A very important property of all these substances is that they are non-toxic which makes them suitable for indoor use on house pets. In addition, U.S. Pat. No. 5,364,626 to Hasegawa, et al. discloses a plurality of chemical agents to be admixed to various non-toxic repellent formulas in order to create a repellent having sustained release. Throughout the remainder of this document, all of the aforementioned chemical formulations and herbal extracts will be hereinafter referred to as pet repellents due to their similar utilitarian purpose. Nevertheless, since all of the aforementioned devices are only available in liquid or granular form, they must be applied directly to household items using spray bottles, spreaders or the like. This form of chemical application causes several salient problems. First, the outer coatings of many types of furniture are at least partially absorbent to chemicals such as water or various types of oils, thus application directly to the surface thereof could cause permanent discoloring or staining of the furniture piece. Secondly, the adhesive qualities of the chemical or herbal extract to the household item to be protected are relatively low and cannot be inherently controlled. Therefore, the serviceable life of each application of repellent is not so much a factor of the effective life of the repellent, but rather is determined by the propellant's ability to remain adhereingly attached to the household item's surface. Moreover, the repellent which ultimately flakes off the household item falls to the floor, thus possibly causing stains thereon as well.
Several devices have been developed for the protection of cables from unwanted rodents or other animals using chemical repellents. U.S. Pat. No. 4,171,463 to Watkins discloses a cable encasing structure having a lithium chloride gel substance disposed therein and U.S. Pat. No. 5,993,966 to Johnson discloses a repellent impregnated fibrous cord adapted to be wrapped around a cable prior to insertion into the ground for protection against rodent attack. However, both of these devices disclose the use of toxic chemical repellent agents which is clearly unsuitable for indoor use in close proximity to pets and children.
Thus, there has been a long-felt need for a pet deterrent device for the protection of household items such as electrical power cables, furniture, family heirlooms, and the like from pets having a disposition to chew thereon. The device should not cause the creation of stains or any permanent damage to furniture or any surrounding objects and should provide a long serviceable life. Most importantly, the device should be non-toxic in order to enable its use indoors within a home.